Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Najib, why are gov't hospitals struggling?

COMMENT | Janelle (not her real name) is now a single mother after her husband passed away several years ago.

Suffering from epilepsy, she has to take care of her only son who
suffers from multiple disabilities. “Anytime I can get into a fit, and
it is dangerous for me to be driving at night,” she said.

In recent months, she said her medication has changed. “The hospital
did not have the budget like before; therefore, they have switched to
some generic drugs.

“I was on it for a couple of months but it made me very unstable
until I decided on my own to drop it and fork out my own money to buy
the same medication that I was on before this,” she said.

Only two days ago, she said she was a lot more stable than when she
was depending on the generic drugs prescribed by the hospital.

The worst affected group are the pensioners. They are now finding it hard to get their medicine at public hospitals.Sometimes, the pharmacists at public hospitals tell patients to
buy medicine from private pharmacies instead and then claim back the
money spent from the government.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a retiree said that he has been
getting complaints from other pensioners who said that with the pensions
that they are receiving, they are finding it hard to afford these
medicines.

“They have to pay in advance,” he said. “After that, when they submit
their claims, sometimes, it takes more than three or even four months
before they get reimbursed.”

This is what is causing a lot of hardships for these veterans who had
served the country in various capacities. Some were in the civil
service; others were serving in the army to protect the country from
enemy threats.

Added strain on public hospitals

Last year, I had my blood sample taken at a hospital for a
prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test. I need to take the test every
three months to help monitor the presence of prostate cancer.

However, three months later, when I went to the same hospital for a
follow-up appointment, I was told that the laboratory was unable to
conduct the PSA test.

The hospital did not even have the courtesy to contact me; therefore,
I wasted a few hours of my time waiting in the queue for the doctor,
only to learn that he could not advise me unless he sees the
PSA test result.

When I enquired with the hospital’s public relations officer, I was
then told that the hospital did not have enough money to buy the
reagents for the test.

I am sure my story has been repeated in the lives of many other older
patients. From then on, I have had to take my PSA tests at a private
diagnostic centre once every three months. Each test costs RM60.

It seems that our country’s hospitals can no longer provide quality medical services to Malaysian citizens.According to Free Malaysia Today, hospitals are having to
recycle some single-use devices. This practice had apparently begun
after budget cuts were imposed on the sector in 2015.

Especially when the country’s economy is underperforming, people who
could previously afford to go to private hospitals are now turning to
public hospitals. This is putting further strain on public hospitals.

If the economy is doing so well, based on what Prime Minister Najib
Abdul Razak claims, then, the goods and services tax (GST) should be
abolished. The petrol subsidy should be put in place again, and reduced
gradually.

When I search online for the country’s GDP for 2016, a chart provided
by Google based on public data clearly shows us where the GDP of three
countries – Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore - lie over a period of some
four decades.

While all three countries were very close in terms of their GDP in
1976, forty years later, Thailand has overshot us with an annual GDP of
nearly US$400 billion. Malaysia and Singapore, which a smaller
population, are still around US$290 billion. Even the Philippines has
overshot us at US$304 billion.

So, how can Najib explain convincingly that the country’s economy is shining?STEPHEN NG is an ordinary citizen with an avid interest in following political developments in the country since 2008.The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.Read more at https://www.malaysiakini.com/news/399443#dDkloLB2sTsp2qE2.99

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